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MISSION 


San  Xavier  del  Bac 


DESCRIPTION  OF  ITS  CHURCH. 


WRITTEN   BY   A 


MISSIONARY   OF    ARIZONA. 


PRICE,    50    CENTS 


The    Proceeds  'to    he    tJsed    in    Aid    of  the.  Completion    oi 
St.    Mary's    Hospital. 


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SAN   FRANCISCO: 
Thomas'  Steam  Printing  House,  505  Clay  Street. 

1880. 


MMI 


A   BRIEF  SKETCH 


MISSION 


San  Xavier  del  Bac 


DESCRIPTION  OF  ITS  CHURCH 


WRITTEN   BY   A 


MISSIONARY   OF   ARIZONA. 


JPRICE,    50    CENTS. 


The    Proceed*    t<>    be   Used    in    ^Vid    of  the    Completion    <>i 
^t.    Mary's    Hospital. 


sax  b'RANOISOO: 

Thomas'  Steam  Printing  House,  505  Clay  Street. 
1880. 


Bancroft 


SAN  XAVIER  DEL  BAC. 


What  is  the  history  of  this  Mission?  How  old  is  its 
church  ?  Who  are  those  who  built  it  ?  These  are  questions 
which  many  times  we  have  been  asked,  and  which,  more  fre- 
quently now,  are  made  by  the  numerous  strangers  who  do 
not  fail  to  go  to  San  Xavier  del  Bac*  as  soon  as  they  have 
visited  the  old  Presidio,  to-day  the  growing  city  of  Tucson. 
In  order  to  satisfy  this  just  desire,  we  will  here  briefly  state 
what  we  have  been  able  to  learn,  either  by  tradition  or  by 
the  few  records  left  in  the  church,  about  these  questions. 

The  San  Xavier  Mission,  which  is  located  in  the  Santa 
Cruz  valley,  nine  miles  south  of  Tucson,  was  established  by 
the  Jesuit  missionaries  for  the  Papagof  Indians  towards  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  Jesuit  missionaries  who  had  established  several  mis- 
sions in  the  State  of  Sinaloa  since  1590,  reached  Sonora — says 
the  author  of  the  Noticias  Estadisticas,  of  that  province, — 
on  the  13th  of  March,  1687,  having  Father  Kino  as  superior. 
In  1690  four  missions  had  already  been  established  in  So- 
nora, and  were  visited  by  the  Kev.  Juan  Maria  Salvatierras, 
who  had  been  sent  from  Mexico  as  Visitor-General.  During 
this  visit  in  the  new  missions,  the  Rev.  Juan  Maria 
Salvatierras  and  the  Rev.  Father  Kino  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  many  Indians  coming  from  different  tribes,  and 
inviting  them  to  go  to  their  rancherias  or  villages. 
Some  of  these  Indians,  who  had  come  from  a  distance  of  over 

*The  word  Bac,  in  the  language  of  the  Aborigines,  means  a  place  where 
there  is  water. 

tPapago,  according  to  the  explanation  given  to  us  by  one  of  the  Indians 
of  San  Xavier,  means  "hair  cut,"  the  sign  by  which,  formerly,  those  converted 
to  the  faith  were  distinguished. 


4  San  Xavier  del  Bac. 

120  miles — the  region  where  subsequently  were  established 
the  Missions  of  Tumacacori  and  San  Xavier — insisted  so 
earnestly  in  their  demands  that  the  missionaries  determined 
to  change  their  itinerary,  and  followed  them  as  far  as  Gue- 
vavi,  where  they  founded  a  mission.*  This  is  the  first  mission 
which  was  established  in  the  country  now  called  Arizona. 

As  for  San  Xavier,  we  have  not  seen  any  record  of  its  first 
start  as  a  mission.  What  we  know  is  that,  in  1692,  the  mis- 
sionaries were  visiting  the  different  tribes  of  the  western 
part  of  the  country,  and  that  in  1694  they  established  two 
missions  on  the  Gila  River.  But  from  these  facts,  can  we 
not  infer  that  the  San  Xavier  mission  was  already  existing, 
especially  when  we  know,  as  stated  before,  that  it  was  the 
strong  wish  of  the  Papago  Indians  to  have  missions  es- 
tablished in  their  villages?  Moreover,  the  location  which  the 
actually  existing  church  occupies  and  the  rich  and  extensive 
valley  by  which  it  is  surrounded  must  have  attracted  at  once 
the  attention  of  the  missionaries.  We  can,  then,  safely  sup- 
pose that  this  mission  was  established  soon  after  that  of 
Guevavi,  if  not  at  the  same  time.  Nevertheless,  San  Xavier, 
had  no  resident  priest  for  several  years  after  its  establish- 
ment, and  was  only  attended  from  Guevavi.  The  first  church 
built  at  San  Xavier,  as  we  have  been  told  by  an  old  Indian, 
and  as  can  be  easily  supposed,  was  a  small  and  modest  adobe 
building,  the  most  easily  erected  to  meet  the  wants  of  the 
new  mission.  The  fragments  of  records  we  have  found  in  the 
church  give  us  an  idea  of  the  population  that  lived  in  the 
vicinity,  by  the  number  of  baptisms  which  were  yearly 
administered  from  1720  to  1767.  This  population  must  have 
been  considerable.  We  find  in  the  same  books  that  twenty- 
two  Jesuit  missionaries  successively  administered  at  San 
Xavier  between  the  dates  mentioned,  the  last  of  which  wras 
that  of  their  expulsion  by  the  Spanish  government.  The 
missions  they  had  established  during  their  stay  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Sonora  were  twenty-nine  in  number,  consisting  of 
seventy-three  Indian  pueblos,  as  is  stated  in  the  Budo  En- 


*  This  mission,  now  abandoned,  was  located  in  the  southern  pnrt  of  Ari- 
zona, near  the  frontier  of  Sonora. 


San  Xavier  del  Bac.  5 

sai/o,  a  geographical  description  of  Sonora,  written  in  1762 
by  one  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  According  to  the  opinion  of 
the  author  of  the  Noticias  Estadislicas,  already  mentioned, 
the  Mission  of  San  Xavier  was  one  of  the  most  nourishing  in 
Sonora  under  the  care  of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  loss  of  these 
missionaries  could  not  but  affect  it  very  seriously,  as  well  as 
all  the  others. 

In  the  same  year,  1767,  the  Marquess  de  Croix,  Viceroy  of 
Mexico,  made  an  application  to  the  guardian  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan college  of  Santa  Cruz  de  Queretaro,  Mexico,  request- 
ing him  on  the  part  of  King  Charles  III,  to  send  fourteen, 
or  at  least  twelve  priests  of  his  order  to  take  charge  of  the 
missions  of  Sonora.  The  petition  was  granted,  and  on  the 
27th  of  March,  1768,  after  a  long  and  painful  voyage,  the 
fourteen  missionaries  asked  for  landed  at  Guaymas.  Soon 
after,  they  proceeded  to  San  Miguel  de  Horcacitas,  where 
they  fixed  the  headquarters  of  their  labors.  Amongst  the 
number  of  missions  that  were  considered  important  enough 
to  require  the  presence  of  a  .priest  was  San  Xavier,  to 
which  was  assigned  one  of  the  new  missionaries,  the  Rev. 
Francisco  Garcez.  We  must  here  call  to  the  mind  of  the 
reader  that  the  different  missions  had  passed  through  many 
trials  from  their  establishment  to  the  time  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
were  compelled  to  abandon  them.  The  most  severe  of  all 
was  a  revolt  of  the  Pimas  and  Ceris,  which  broke  out  in 
1751,  and  lasted  over  two  years,  causing  the  death  of  several 
missionaries  and  obliging  the  others  to  temporarily  leave 
their  missions  until  better  times  should  come.  This  revolt 
subsided  in  1754,  as  is  shown  by  the  following  note  extracted 
from  the  records  of  Tubac : 

"On  the  21st  of  November,  1751,  all  this  Pima  nation  rebelled  and  de- 
prived this  mission  of  ics  spiritual  minister  until  now,  1754,  in  which  year  the 
Indians  have  returned  to  their  pueblo,  meaning,  as  they  say,  to  live  peaceably. 
And  for  the  authenticity  of  this  writing,  I  sign  it. 

Feancisco  Paner." 

The  priest  who  wrote  this  note  was  then  alone  in  the  mis- 
sions of  the  northern  part  of  the  province,  as  we  see  by  the 
different  visits  he  made  at  that  time,  from  Tubac  to  San 
Xavier  and    Tucson.     The   baptisms   he   administered  the 


6  San  Xavier  del  Bac. 

same  year  in  these  missions  are,  for  Tubac,  49;  for  Tucson 
50;  and  for  San  Xavier,  43. 

The  revolt  alluded  to  had  been  instigated,  says  the  author 
of  the  Rudo  Ensayo,  by  a  certain  Luis,  from  Saric,  (Sonora) 
who  pretended  to  be  a  wizard,  and  made  the  Indians  con- 
sider as  advantageous  to  them  what  he  intended  for  his  own 
benefit. 

The  missions  which  had  escaped  going  to  complete  ruin 
during  this  revolt,  were  hardly  started  again  when  the  Jes- 
uits were  expelled.  No  wonder  that  Father  Garcez  found 
San  Xavier  in  a  pitiable  condition.  This  mission,  says  A. 
Velasco,  in  his  Noticias  Estadisticas,  was  very  poor  when  the 
missionary  took  possession  of  it.  It  was  lacking  the  means 
necessary  not  only  to  support  a  priest,  but  even  to  furnish 
the  most  essential  things  for  the  worthy  celebration  of  the 
sacred  mysteries.  But  these  difficulties  were  not  enough  to 
deter  the  new  Apostle  from  his  undertaking.  As  he  aimed 
only  at  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  Indians,  he  thought  but 
very  little  of  his  personal  comfort.  His  zeal  won  the  ad- 
miration of  the  Indians  as  they  saw  him  accommodating  him- 
self to  their  barbarous  customs.  His  bed  was  the  bare 
ground,  and  for  covering  he  had  nothing  but  his  clothes.  His 
food  was  that  of  the  Indians,  as  he  had  no  purveyor  but 
Providence  alone.  His  breakfast  consisted  of  a  cup  of 
atole  (corn  mush).  Instead  of  bread,  tortillas  (pancakes); 
and  some  dish  of  wild  plants  such  as  quelites,  sow-thistle, 
and  occasionally  roasted  corn,  made  up  his  whole  fare .  He 
never  used  tobacco  in  any  shape,  but  carried  it  always  with 
him  in  order  to  gratify  the  Indians.*  Such  a  moitified  way 
of  living  was  evidently  imposed  upon  him  originally  by 
circumstances;  but  what  is  worthy  of  admiration  is  that 
Father  Garcez  did  not  improve  it,  even  afterwards,  when 
thing  -i  were  better  regulated  and  when  a  certain  amount  of 
provisions  was  regularly  furnished  by  the  government  to  the 
missionaries.     All  he  could  get  in  the  way  of  sugar,  choc- 

*  These  details  about  F.  Garcez  are  extracted  from  the  Corona  Serafica 
del  CfaUgpi  de  Santa  GrtU  de  Querataro — a  work  which  was  published  in 
Mexico,  1792,  and  which  gives  the  history  of  the  missions  of  Sonora  during 
the  administration  of  the  Franciscan  Fathers. 


San  Xavier  del  Bac.  7 

olate  and  other  supplies,  was  carefully  stored  and  kept  for 
the  purpose  of  gratifying  his  Indians.  These  articles  were 
partly  issued  to  them  as  delicacies,  and  partly  sold  in  order 
to  get  money  wherewith  to  purchase  agricultural  implements. 
By  this  liberality  he  won  completely  the  affection  and  the 
respect  of  the  Indians.  During  his  stay  at  San  Xavier, 
that  is  to  say  from  1768  to  1778,  this  zealous  missionary 
visited  several  times  all  the  Indian  tribes  of  Arizona,  and 
prepared  almost  all  of  them  to  receive  missionaries,  had 
these  been  sent  to  them.  But  owing  to  a  want  of  material 
resources,  or  rather  to  a  lack  of  energy  on  the  part  of  the 
military  authorities,  two  new  missions  only  could  be  estab- 
lished during  his  life  and  under  his  leadership.  These  are 
the  Immaculate  Conception  and  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
which  were  opened  in  March,  1778,  on  the  Colorado  river. 

That  the  Papago  Indians  must  have  been  greatly  bene- 
fitted by  the  presence  of  such  a  man  of  God  amongst  them 
for  the  period  of  ten  years,  nobody  will  doubt.  As  we  see 
in  the  Corona  Serafica,  the  Franciscans,  as  the  Jesuits,  their 
predecessors  in  the  missions,  were  all  zealous  men — men 
who  worked  faithfully  in  the  duties  of  their  vocation,  and 
who  succeeded,  by  hard  labor  and  privations,  not  only  to 
teach  the  Indians  the  way  of  salvation,  but  also  how  to  pass 
from  the  miserable  condition  in  which  they  had  been  found 
to  the  state  of  a  civilized  life.  Another  proof  of  the  success 
these  missionaries  had  at  San  Xavier  is  the  church  they 
have  left  in  that  Mission,  which  church,  though  greatly 
injured  by  the  time  which  has  elapsed  since  its  erection,  is 
yet,  however,  a  monument  attracting  the  attention  of  every 
stranger  coming  to  Arizona. 

The  date,  1797,  which  is  seen  on  one  of  the  doors  of  this 
church,  is,  according  to  the  tradition,  the  date  of  the  monu- 
ment's completion,  the  building  of  which  had  required  four- 
teen years.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  a  few 
persons  whom  we  have  seen  since  we  have  been  living  in 
Arizona,  and  who  assert  that  they  assisted  at  the  dedication 
of  the  church. 

Who  are  the  priests  that  built  it  ? 


8  San  Xavier  del  Bac. 

No  mention  has  been  made  of  their  names  in  any  of  the 
records  we  have  met  with,  nor  did  those  true  sons  of  the 
humble  St.  Francis  put  on  the  walls  any  mark  that  could 
manifest  their  personal  merit  to  future  generations. 
What  they  did  was  to  place  the  coat-of-arms  of  their  Order 
on  the  frontispiece  of  the  church,  as  if  to  say  to  us:  We, 
unknown  to  you,  poor  religious  of  St.  Francis,  have  built 
this  for  you;  pray  for  us!  Those  men  have  been  very  diff- 
erent in  that  respect  from  many  of  the  visitors  who,  incon- 
siderately, we'  suppose,  have  contributed  too  much  to  the 
defacement  of  the  monument  by  writing  or  carving  inscrip- 
tions on  it.  The  missionaries  who  had  left  their  country  to 
go  after  the  conquest  of  souls  for  Heaven,  were  not  working 
for  fame  or  any  personal  interest.  What  they  aimed  at  was 
to  please  God  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  leaving  to 
Him  to  take  note  of  the  little  good  they  might  be  able  to  do. 
Nevertheless,  if  the  tradition  be  right  about  1he  lime  spent 
for  the  building  of  the  church,  we  can  raise  the  veil  of 
humility  by  looking  at  the  names  of  the  missionaries  of  whom 
mention  is  made  in  the  church  records  during  the  said 
period.  According  to  this  tradition  the  present  church, 
which  was  built  near  and  to  replace  the  old  one  left  by  the 
Jesuits,  was  commenced  in  1783,  and,  as  inferred  from  the 
books,  under  the  administration  of  the  Eev.  Balthasar  Carillo, 
whose  name  is  mentioned  in  said  books  from  May  22d,  1780, 
to  1794.  His  successor  as  Superior  of  the  Mission  was  his 
assistant  priest,  the  Rev.  Narciso  Gutierres,  who  remained  in 
charge  until  1799,  having  successively  as  assistants  the  Rev. 
Mariano  Bordoy,  Ramon  Lopes  and  Angel  Alonzo  de  Prado. 
From  these  considerations,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  it 
is  to  the  above-named  priests,  and  especially  to  the  two 
who  acted  as  Superiors,  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  too 
much  dilapidated,  but  yet  elegant  and  rich  church  of  San 
Xavier. 

The  Rev.  Balthasar  Carillo  and  the  Rev.  Narciso  Gutier- 
res were  not  permitted  to  remain  at  San  Xavier  until  the 
end  of  their  useful  apostolic  career.  Both  of  them,  and 
probably  for  the  purpose  of  using  their  experience  for  the 


San  X avi  k.k  del  Bao.  9 

building  up  of  a  new  church,  were  assigned  one  after 
the  other  to  the  Mission  of  Tumacacori,  where  they  died.  In 
the  year  1822,  Deo.  13,  we  see  by  the  records  of  that  church, 
J.  Barnon  Liberos,  minister  of  the  Mission  of  San  Jose'  de 
Tumacacori,  transferred  the  bones  of  the  Keverend  Bal- 
thasar  Carillo  and  Narciso  Gutierres  from  the  old  church  to 
the  new  one,  and  buried  them  in  the  sanctuary  at  the  gospel 
side.  In  token  of  its  authenticity,  the  paragraph  of  the 
records  bore  the  signature  of  Earn  on  Liberos.  In  another 
writing  of  the  1st  of  January,  1821,  referring  to  a  pastoral 
visit  of  the  Bishop  of  Sonora  to  the  Mission  of  Tumacacori, 
we  find  that  the  death  of  Father  Gutierres  had  occurred  only 
a  short  time  previous  to  the  said  date.  As  for  Father 
Carillo,  we  have  no  record  about  the  time  his  useful  life  was 
ended. 

It  may  be  asked  here  what  were  the  means  the  mission- 
aries had  at  their  disposal  for  the  erection  of  such  structures 
as  those,  the  remains  of  which  are  seen  at  San  Xavier, 
Tumacacori  and  other  places. 

Leaving  apart  the  marvelous  products  of  the  rich  mines 
which  are  supposed  to  have  been  held  in  possession  by  the 
ancient  missionaries,  and  which,  probably,  have  never  ex- 
isted as  such,  as  no  mention  is  made  of  them  in  the  old 
records,  we  answer  the  question  :  According  to  the  writers 
of  two  of  the  works  which  have  contributed  to  the  redac- 
tion of  this  notice,  the  Bado  Easayo  and  the  Noticias  Esta- 
dislicas,  the  churches  were  built  by  the  missionaries,  with 
the  sole  product  of  the  land  assigned  by  the  government 
to  each  one  of  the  missions,  which  land  was  cultivated  by 
the  Indians  under  the  direction  of  their  respective  minis- 
ters. To  this  resource  we  might  add  the  product  of  the 
live  stock,  which  was  considerable  at  times  in  several  of 
the  missions,  and  also  what  the  missionaries  were  able  to 
spare  of  the  scant  allowance  of  provisions  which  were  is- 
sued to  them  by  the  government,  amounting  yearly  to  $300 
for  each  one.  This  explains  why  the  building  of  the 
churches  required  so  long  a  time,  and  also  why  some  of 
them  remained  unfinished  in  some  of  their  parts . 


10  San  Xavier  del  Bac. 

Deeming  it  will  not  be  out  of  place,  we  will  say  a  few 
words  about  the  dealing  of  the  missionaries  with  the  In- 
dians and  about  the  way  they  taught  them,  little  by  little , 
the  manners  of  a  civilized  life.  First  of  all,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  orders  had  been  given,  over  and  over 
again  by  the  Kings  of  Spain,  that  the  Indians  should  be 
treated  fairly,  as  we  see  it  stated  by  Juan  de  Solorzano  * 
and  that  the  missionaries  never  departed  from  the  royal  de- 
cree. Bat,  to  confine  ourselves  to  our  subject,  we  will  only 
give  some  particulars  we  have  received  about  San  Xavier, 
from  men  who  saw  the  Fathers  at  work  and  who  were 
employed  by  them,  as  foremen,  in  the  different  labors  car- 
ried on  in  this  Mission.  According  to  the  statement  of  these 
men,  the  Indians  were  free  to  work  for  themselves  or  for  the 
church  ;  to  cultivate  their  own  fields  or  the  church  land, 
with  this  difference,  that  the  former  had  to  look  for  their 
maintenance,  while  the  latter  were  supported  by  the  Mis- 
sion. Those  who  worked  for  the  Mission  were  depending  on 
it  for  food  and  clothing,  not  only  for  themselves,  but  for 
their  families.  For  that  purpose,  provisions  of  any  kind 
were  stored  in  the  mission  house,  called  the  Convent,  and  dis- 
tributed in  due  time.  Early  in  the  morning  the  Indians  had 
to  go  to  church  for  morning  prayers  and  to  hear  Mass. 
Breakfast  followed  this  exercise.  Soon  after  a  peculiar  ring 
of  the  bell  called  the  workmen.  They  assembled  in  the 
atrium,  a  little  square  place  in  front  of  the  church,  where 
they  were  counted  by  one  of  the  priests  and  assigned  to  the 
different  places  where  work  was  to  be  done.  When  the 
priests  were  in  sufficient  number  they  used  to  superintend 
the  work,  laboring  themselves,  otherwise  they  employed 
some  trustworthy  Mexicans  to  represent  them.  Towards 
the  evening,  a  little  before  sundown,  the  workmen  were 
permitted  to  go  home.  On  their  arrival  in  the  houses 
which  were  located  round  the  plaza,  one  of  the  priests, 
standing  in  the  middle  of  this  plaza,  said  the  evening  pray- 
ers in  a  loud  voice  in  the  language  of  the  tribe.  Every 
word   he  pronounced  was    repeated  by  some    selected   In- 

*De  Indiarum  Jure,  lib.  Ill,  Caput  VI. 


San  Xavier  del  Bac.  11 

dians  who  stood  between  him  and  the  houses,  and  lastly  by 
all  the  Indians  present  in  the  tribe.  Notwithstanding  these 
orderly  measures,  many  of  the  Indians  fled  every  day,  as  is 
reported  in  the  Rudo  Ensayo,  from  their  respective  squads 
before  reaching  the  place  where  they  had  to  work,  and  tried 
only  to  be  present  at  meals.  Nevertheless,  these  are  the 
men  who,  by  their  work,  enabled  the  missionaries  to  build 
their  churches  and  houses,  learning  at  the  same  time  how  to 
earn  their  living  in  the  future.  That  the  Indians  must  have 
been  happy  under  such  a  rule,  nobody  can  doubt,  and  San 
Xavier,  owing  perhaps  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Presidio  of 
Tucson,*  became  afterwards  one  of  the  most  flourishing 
missions  under  the  administration  of  the  Franciscan  Fathers. 
It  continued  progressing  until  the  year  1810.  Then  was 
heard,  all  [over  the  territory  of  New  Spain  the  cry  of  In- 
dependence. 

Very  soon  the  government  commenced  to  feel  embarrassed 
financially,  on  account  of  the  expense  it  had  to  incur  in 
order  to  sustain  itself,  and  the  annual  help  allowed  to  the 
missionaries  failed  to  come  in  due  time,  and,  in  many  in- 
stances, failed  to  be  paid  at  all.  The  result  to  the  missions 
was  a  hindrance  to  their  material  progress.  From  this  time 
they  had  to  suffer,  more  or  less,  year  by  year,  either  from 
the  revolutions  or  from  the  penury  of  material  resources, 
until  the  last  stroke  was  aimed  at  them  by  the  expulsion  of 
their  missionaries,  which  followed  the  fall  of  the  Colonial 
government  in  Mexico,  December  2d,  1827. 

Here  ends  the  history  of  the  Indian  missions.  By  the 
fall  of  the  Spanish  domination  and  the  expulsion  of  the 
Franciscans,  the  Indians  remained  without  any  protection. 
They  could  not  but  miss  at  once  the  support  they  were 
wont  to  receive  from  the  church.  In  a  very  short  time, 
many  of  them,  finding  themselves  without  any  resources, 
commenced  to  scatter,  here  and  there,  and  to  return  gradu- 
ally to  the  customs  of  their  former  Indian  life.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  destruction  of  the  live  stock  left  by  the  mission- 

*This  Presidio  was  established  some  time  after  the  revolt  of  the  Pimas, 
either  to  prevent  any  subsequent  rebellion  on  the  part  of  these  Indians  or  to 
protect  them  against  their  cruel  enemy,  the  Apaches. 


12  San  Xavier  del  Bac. 

aries,  and  the  settlement  by  the  soldiers  and  Mexican  people 
on  the  mission  lands.  Thus'the  population  of  the  missions 
commenced  to  be  a  mixed  one.  The  Franciscan  Fathers 
who  ministered  in  the  Mission  of  San  Xavier,  either  as  resi- 
dent priests  or  temporarily,  were  sixteen  in  number.  The 
Indians  who  formed  the  population  of  the  mission  were 
the  Papagoes,  as  has  been  said  at  the  beginning  of  this 
notice. 

These  Indians  belong  to  the  large  tribe  known  by  the 
name  of  Pimas,  and  who  are  scattered,  as  yet,  over  a  great 
portion  of  Sonora  and  Arizona.  Those  living  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  Sonora  were  called  Indians  of  the  Pimeria  Baja, 
while  those  who  had  settled  on  what  has  become  since 
Arizona,  were  designated  by  the  name  of  Indians  of  the 
Pimeria  Alta.  The  latter  were  always  more  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  the  Apaches,  as  they  were  too  far  from  the  pre- 
sidios or  military  posts  to  receive  any  protection  from 
them.  Owing,  undoubtedly,  to  this  fact,  they  were  all  good 
warriors  and  succeeded  not  only  in  defending  themselves, 
but  many  times  in  preventing  the  enemy  from  molesting 
others. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  the  authors  we  have  men- 
tioned several  times,  these  Indians,  though  barbarous  in 
their  customs,  and  very  much  inclined  to  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating liquors,  which  they  made  from  several  kinds  of 
wild  fruits,*  were  industrious,  thrifty  and  more  sociable 
than  the  other  Indians  living  in  the  missions.  Their  moral 
character  was  excellent.  Previous  to  the  establishment  of 
the  missions  amongst  them,  they  had  already,  it  seems,  a 
knowledge  of  the  sacredness  of  marriage,  as  they  kept  it 
always  in  its  unity  and  perpetuity.  They  were  so  strict  on 
this  point  that  the  woman  who  committed  adultery  was 
punished  with  death.  As  far  as  we  know  and  have  been 
told  by  several  persons,  the  same  rule  is  in  force  yet  among 
the  Papagoes.  It  is  also  said  by  many  who  are  acquainted 
with  these  Indians  that  they  are  the  most  virtuous  people  in 

*The  most  noxious  of  these  liquors  was  that  made  of  the  elder  tree 
berrv. 


San  Xavier  del  Bac.  13 

the  world.  As  for  the  other  tribes,  it  is  but  too  well  known 
that  they  have  greatly  changed  their  former  feelings  about 
morality  since  they  have  been  in  contact  with  the  white 
people.  The  Indians  are  generally  chaste  in  their  language, 
neither  do  they  curse  or  use  any  profane  words.  The  num- 
ber of  the  Indians  living  at  San  Xavier  can  only  be  approxi- 
mately calculated,  as  many  of  them  do  not  remain  in  the 
pueblo  after  the  harvest  of  the  wheat.  Those  who  are 
steady  in  residing  are  about  five  hundred  in  number,  form- 
ing, as  it  were,  two  villages,  each  one  having  a  special  chief. 
As  for  the  total  number  of  Papagoes  living  in  Arizona,  it  is 
estimated  to.  be  about  5,000.  Amongst  the  customs  which 
were  observed  by  the  Indians,  there  is  one  which  yet  pre- 
vails in  the  Papago  tribe,  and  which  we  think  should  be 
mentioned;  and  this  is,  the  purification  which  is  practiced 
for  forty  days  by  any  Indian  who  has  killed  any  one,  whethei 
with  just  reason  or  not.  During  said  length  of  time  this 
Indian  cannot  reside  in  the  pueblo,  but  must  remain  out  in 
some  place  where  his  relatives  will  carry  him  the  food  he 
needs,  and  leave  him  alone.  It  is  only  after  the  purification 
time  is  over  that  the  Indian  can  be  received  back  into 
the  tribe  to  be  treated  as  a  brave,  if  the  man  he  has  killed 
was  an  enemy. 

As  regards  the  modern  history  of  the  ^Mission  of  San 
Xavier,  we  have  but  little  to  say.  As  a  consequence  of  the 
expulsion  of  the  Franciscans,  the  secular  priests  being  very 
few  in  the  province  of  Sonora,  it  was  condemned  to  remain 
without  a  resident  minister  for  a  long  time.  It  is  true  it 
was  never  abandoned,  as  the  Bishop  of  Sonora  had  it  put 
under  the  charge  of  the  parish  priest  of  Magdalena;  but, 
owing  to  the  distance,  and  the  danger  from  the  Apaches, 
who,  at  all  times,  were  infesting  the  country,  the  visits  of 
the  priests  were  only  on  rare  occasions.  This  state  of 
things  lasted  until  1859.  At  that  time  the  territory  of  Ari- 
zona was  aggregated,  by  a  decision  of  Rome,  to  the  diocese 
of  Santa  F6,  New  Mexico,  whose  bishop,  the  Right  Rev. 
J .  B.  Lamy,  made  it  his  duty  to  have  the  new  field  opened 
to  his  labors,  to  be  visited  and  provided  with  some  priests. 


BANCROFT 
L/BRAPv 


14  San  Xavier  del  Bag. 

at  once.  The  first  priest  his  lordship  sent  for  that  purpose 
was  his  worthy  Vicar-General,  the  active  and  energetic  Yery 
Kev.  J.  P.  Machebeuf,  who  has  since  become  the  Vicar- 
Apostolic  of  Colorado.  The  reverend  gentleman  found  the 
church  of  San  Xavier  the  only  one  which  had  not  gone  to 
complete  ruin  amongst  all  the  missions  of  Arizona,  still 
showing  many  unequivocal  proofs  of  its  former  beauty.  He 
saw,  however,  that  the  vaults  of  this  temple  had  been  greatly 
injured  by  leakage,  and  his  first  care  was  to  have  a  coat  of 
mortar  put  on  the  outside  surface,  in  order  to  prevent 
any  further  damage.  This  repair,  which  we  do  not  doubt 
has  saved  the  church  from  falling  down,  was  done  either  by 
the  work  or  by  the  voluntary  contribution  of  the  poor  peo- 
ple who  lived  in  the  vicinity  at  that  time.  The  Indians  of 
San  Xavier,  as  we  have  been  told  by  the  Eight  Eev.  Bishop 
Machebeuf,  had  not  forgotten  entirely  what  they  had  been 
taught  by  the  old  missionaries.  As  soon  as  they  knew  that 
there  was  a  priest  amongst  them,  they  rushed  to  the  church 
and  rang  the  bells  to  welcome  him  as  a  minister  of  God. 
They  went  to  listen  to  his  instructions,  and  brought  to  him 
their  children  in  order  to  have  them  baptized.  In  a  very 
short  time  the  missionary  ascertained  that  they  knew  some 
prayers,  and,  to  his  great  amazement,  even  two  or  three 
were  able  to  sing  at  mass,  though  not  exactly  according  to 
the  rules  and  notations  of  the  Gregorian  chant.  This  was 
more  than  was  expected;  but  there  was  another  agreeable 
surprise  for  the  priest  when  he  saw  the  Indians  bringing  to 
him  several  church  articles,  which  they  had  kept  for  years  in 
their  houses  lest  they  should  be  stolen. 

The  Very  Kev.  J.  P.  Machebeuf  could  not  spend  more 
than  a  few  months  in  Arizona,  the  duties  of  his  office  as 
Vicar-General  calling  him  again  near  his  Bishop.  It  was 
with  sincere  regret,  as  we  have  heard  him  say,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  the  country;  but  he  was  confident  the  report 
he  should  be  able  to  make  would  determine  the  Eight 
Eeverend  Bishop  to  send  another  priest  to  it.  It  so  hap 
pened;  another  priest  was  sent  soon  afterwards. 

In  March,  1864,  the  Eight  Eeverend  Bishop  came  to  Ari- 


San  Xavier  del  Bac.  15 

zona  and  made  a  pastoral  visitation  to  the  Mission  of  San 
Xavier,  and  to  the  new  parish  of  San  Augustin,  at  Tucson. 
These  churches  were  administered  at  that  time,  the  former 
by  the  Rev.  C.  Mesea,  and  the  latter  by  the  Rev.  L.  Bosco, 
both  priests  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  next  year  the  agent 
for  the  Papagoes,  Col.  C.  D.  Poston,  made  an  application  to 
the  bishop  for  a  Catholic  teacher  who  could  take  charge  of  a 
school  for  these  Indians.  The  petition  could  not  but  be 
favorably  received.  The  teacher  was  sent,  with  three  mis- 
sionaries, also  assigned  to  the  Missions  of  Arizona;  but 
when  he  arrived  at  Tucson,  Feb.  7,  1866,  the  Indian  Agent 
had  left  the  country,  and  the  school  could  not  be  started  as 
intended — that  is  to  say,  as  a  school  supported  by  the  Govern- 
ment. Nevertheless,  the  priest  who  then  acted  as  Vicar- 
General  in  Arizona  determined  to  use  the  teacher  sent  by 
the  bishop,  and  opened  a  school  at  his  own  expense  for  the 
Indians  until  things  could  be  regulated,  as  had  been  pro- 
posed by  the  agent.  This  school  was  opened  in  the  church 
building,  but  owing  to  the  negligence  of  the  Indians  in  send- 
ing their  children  in  sufficient  numbers  to  it,  and  to  the  very 
limited  means  the  priest  had  at  his  disposal,  it  lasted  only  a 
few  months.  No  other  school  was  established  for  the  Papa- 
goes  until  September,  1873,  under  the  administration  of  R. 
A.  Wilbur  as  Indian  Agent. 

This  school,  which  was  established  and  supported  at  the 
expense  of  the  Government,  was  directed  by  three  Sisters  of 
St.  Joseph.  From  its  beginning  it  seemed  that  it  would  be 
a  real  success,  and  it  proved  so  all  the  time  it  was  in  exist- 
ence. Unfortunately,  this  length  of  time  was  too  short.  By 
order  of  the  Department,  the  Papago  Agency  was  consoli- 
dated with  that  of  the  Pimas  on  the  1st  of  April,  1876,  and  the 
school  suppressed  the  same  day.  Though  ignoring  the  rea- 
sons which  may  have  justified  such  an  order,  we  cannot  but 
regret  very  deeply  that  it  should  have  been  issued.  The 
Indians  were  pleased  with  the  way  the  Sisters  treated  the 
children,  as  they  have  declared  several  times  to  the  Inspec- 
tors sent  by  the  Government  to  visit  the  Agency.  Indeed, 
the  Sisters  did  all  in  their  power  to  make  themselves  useful 


16  San  Xavier  del  Bac. 

in  the  tribe.  Besides  teaching  the  children,  they  visited  the 
sick  and  took  care  of  them  during  the  leisure  time  left  by  the 
school.  It  was  not  long  after  the  school  had  been  established, 
that  a  good  number  of  the  young  Indians  could  make  a  fair 
show  in  spelling  and  reading.  Gradually  the  teachers  and 
pupils  overcame  the  great  difficulty  of  understanding  each 
other,  and  it  was  no  little  pleasure  for  the  visitors  of  the 
school  to  see  the  Sisters  speaking  now  in  English,  then  in 
the  language  of  the  tribe,  and  being  answered  by  the  pupils 
in  either  language  equally  as  well.  The  teaching,  besides 
reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  embraced  the  household 
work  for  the  young  girls.  The  Indian  children  were  not 
very  regular  in  attendance,  still,  the  classes  were  numerous 
enough  to  be  conducted  with  success.  Though  the  school 
lasted  only  a  short  time,  it  has  not  been  fruitless.  This  can 
be  seen  by  the  manner  in  which  some  of  the  pupils  have 
regulated  their  way  of  living  since.  From  April,  1876,  the 
Papago  Indians  have  remained  without  a  special  agent. 
What  the  Government  gained  by  that  we  do  not  know;  but 
what  is  obvious  to  all  people  acquainted  with  these  Indians 
is  that  the  loss  has  been  for  them.  Being  far  from  the  agent 
to  whose  care  they  were  committed,  they  felt  left  too  much 
to  themselves,  and  the  consequence  to  too  many  of  them  is 
that  they  have  fallen  back  either  materially  or  morally.  In 
these  late  years  they  have  indulged  freely  in  the  use  of  strong 
liquors,  which  has  been  the  cause  not  only  of  the  squan- 
dering of  the  little  money  they  had,  but  of  many  quarrels, 
ending,  too  often,  in  the  loss  of  life. 

Religious  service  is  held  at  San  Xavier  regularly  every 
other  Sunday  at  9  a.  m. 

DESCRIPTION  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

The  church,  as  can  be  seen  by  its  arches,  surpassing  the 
semicircle  and  the  ornamental  work  in  low  relief  which 
covers  themflat  surfaces  of  some  parts  of  itsjvvalls,  belongs  to 
the  Moorish  style. 

The  first  thing  to  be  noticed  is  the  atrium,  a  little  en- 
closure 66x33  feet,  which  separates  the  church  from  the 
plaza,  and  which  was  used,  as  we  have  seen,  for  the  place  of 


San  Xavier  del  Bac:.  17 

meetings  relating  to  matters  not  directly  connected  with  re- 
ligion . 

On  the  frontispiece,  which  shows  the  width  of  the  church 
with  its  two  towers,  is  placed,  in  low  relief,  the  coat-of-arms 
of  the  order  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi.*  It  consists  of  an  es- 
cutcheon, with  a  white  ground  rilled  in  with  a  twisted  cord,f 
an  1  a  cross  on  which  are  nailed  one  arm  of  our  Saviour  and 
one  of  St.  Francis,  representing  the  union  of  the  disciple 
with  the  Divine  Master  in  charity  and  the  love  of  suffering. 
The  arm  of  our  Lord  is  bare,  while  that  of  St.  Francis  is 
covered.  On  the  right  side  of  the  escutcheon  is  the  mono- 
gram of  Jesus  the  Saviour  of  men,  and  that  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary  on  the  left.  The  frontispiece  was  surmounted 
by  a  life-size  statue  of  St.  Francis,  which  has  now  gone 
pretty  nearly  all  to  pieces  under  the  action  of  time. 

The  church,  which  is  built  of  stone  and  brick,  is  105x27 
feet  inside  the  walls.  Its  form  is  that  of  a  cross,  the  tran- 
sept forming  on  each  side  of  the  nave  a  chapel  of  twenty-one 
feet  square.  The  church  has  only  one  nave,  which  is  divided 
into  six  portions,  marked  by  as  many  arches,  each  one  rest- 
ing on  two  pillars,  set  against  the  walls.  Above  the  transept 
is  a  cupola  of  about  fifty  feet  in  elevation,  the  remainder  of 
the  vaults  in  the  church  being  only  about  thirty  feet  high. 

Going  from  the  front  door  to  the  main  altar,  there  is  on 
the  right  hand  side  wall  a  fresco  representing  the  coming  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  upon  the  disciples.  Opposite  to  it  is  the 
picture,  also  in  fresco,  of  the  Last  Supper.  Both  paintings 
measure  about  9x5  feet. 

In  the  first  chapel  to  the  right  hand  of  the  two  altars,  one 
facing  the  nave  with  the  image  of  our  "Lady  of  Sorrows," 
standing  at  the  foot  of  a  large  cross,  which  is  deeply  en- 
graved in  the  Avail,  and  the  other  one  with  the  image  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception.  In  the  same  chapel  are  two  fres- 
coes representing  Our  Lady  of  the  Bosary  and  the  hidden 
life  of  our  Saviour.  The  opposite  chapel  is  also  adorned 
with  two  altars.     One  of  them  is  dedicated  to  the  Passion  of 


"The  Founder  of  the  Fianciscan  Order. 
tA  part  of  the  Franciscan's  dress. 


18  San  Xavier  del  Bac. 

our  Lord,  and  the  other  to  St.  Joseph.  There  are  also  two 
paintings,  the  subjects  of  which  are :  Our  Lady  of  the  Pil- 
lar* and  the  Presentation  of  our  Lord  in  the  Temple. 

The  main  altar,  which  stands  at  the  head  of  the  church, 
facing  the  nave,  is  dedicated  to  St.  Francis  Xavier,  the 
patron  saint  the  Jesuits  had  chosen  for  the  first  church  they 
had  established  in  the  mission.  Above  the  image  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier  is  that  of  the  Holy  Virgin;  between  the 
statues  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  at  the  summit  of  the 
altar  piece,  the  bust  of  God,  the  Creator.  The  pictures 
which  are  seen  on  the  walls  near  this  altar,  are :  on  the  right 
hand  side,  "The  Adoration  of  the  Wise  Men,"  with  the 
"Flight  into  Egypt;"  and  on  the  left,  "The  Adoration  of  the 
Shepherds,"  with  the  "Annunciation." 

These  altars,  and  especially  the  principal  one,  are  deco- 
rated with  columns  and  a  great  profusion  of  arabesques,  in 
low  relief,  all  gilded  or  painted  with  different  colors,  accord- 
ing to  the  requirements  of  the  Moorish  style. 

Besides  the  images  we  have  mentioned,  there  are  the 
statues  of  the  twelve  Apostles,  placed  in  niches  cut  in  the 
pillars  of  the  church,  and  many  others,  representing  gener- 
ally some  saints  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis.  There  are 
also  in  the  dome  of  the  cupola  the  pictures  of  several 
personages  of  the  Order  who  occupied  high  rank  in  the 
Church . 

Going  again  to  the  front  door,  there  are  two  small  open- 
ings communicating  with  the  towers.  The  first  room  on 
the  right,  which  is  formed  by  the  inside  of  the  tower,  is 
about  twelve  feet  square,  and  is  used  for  the  ministration  of 
baptisms.  A  similar  room,  which  is  of  no  particular  use 
now,  but  which  corresponds  to  the  mortuary  chapel  of  the 
old  basilicas,  is  located  in  the  left  tower.  From  each  one 
of  these  rooms  commence  the  stairs,  cut  in  the  thickness  of 
the  walls,  and  leading  to  the  upper  stories.  Starting  from 
the  baptistery,  the  second  flight  reaches  the  choir  of  the 
church.  A  good  view  of  the  upper  part  of  the  monument 
can  be  had  from  that  place.     There  are  also  some  frescoes 

"An  apparition  of  the  Mother  of  God,  at  Saragosa. 


San  Xavier  del  Bac.  19 

worth  noticing.  These  are  the  Holy  Family,  facing  the  main 
altar;  St.  Francis,  represented  as  raptured  by  heavenly  love, 
in  a  fiery  chariot;  St.  Dominic,  receiving  from  the  Blessed 
Virgin  the  mission  to  promote  the  devotion  of  the  Bosary  in 
the  world;  and  the  four  Evangelists,  with  their  characteris- 
tic attributes.  Two  flights  more  lead  to  the  belfry,  where 
are  four  rough  and  home-made  bells  of  small  size.  Twenty- 
two  steps  more  bring  the  visitor  to  the  top  story,  and  under 
the  little  dome  covering  the  tower,  an  elevation  of  about 
seventy-five  feet  above  the  ground.  Here  a  glance  can  be 
cast  on  the  beautiful  and  extensive  valley  of  the  Santa  Cruz, 
and  on  the  surrounding  country. 

One  of  the  towers,  as  can  be  seen,  was  never  completed; 
it  lacks  the  dome  and  plastering  from  the  second  story  above. 
The  reason  why  it  remained  unfinished  we  do  not  know;  but 
we  suppose  it  was  the  scarcity  of  means  which  was  felt  by 
the  missionaries  at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  as  stated 
in  the  notice.  Some  people  venture  to  say  that  the  fact  was 
owing  to  the  death  of  the  principal  builder,  which  must 
have  occurred  before  the  completion  of  the  work.  Some 
others  believe  that  it  was  in  order  to  avoid  tthe  payment  of 
a  tribute  which,  according  to  them,  was  due  to  the  Pope  by 
all  finished  churches.  Neither  one  of  these  explanations  is 
admissible  by  us.  The  first,  because  the  tradition  says  that 
the  principal  builders  of  this  church  were  two  brothers  by 
the  name  of  Gauna,  who  were  subsequently  employed  by 
the  missionaries  to  build  the  Church  of  Tumacacori;  and  the 
second,  because  there  is  no  mention  whatever  in  history  of 
any  tribute  to  be  paid  to  the  Pope,  by  any  church,  whether 
finished  or  unfinished. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  church,  separated  from  it  by  a 
narrow  passage,  is  an  inclosure  with  an  opening  on  the  north 
and  a  small  chapel  standing  at  its  western  side.  The  ground 
enclosed  was  formerly  used  as  a  cemetery,  and  the  chapel 
was  the  place  where  the  dead  bodies  were  kept  until  the 
ceremony  of  the  burial  could  be  performed. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  church  is  the  mission  building, 
which  formerly  occupied  a  somewhat   extensive  space,  and 


20  San  Xavier  del  Bac. 

consisted  of  the  rooms  necessary  for  the  priests,  of  a  soap 
factory  and  stores  for  the  provisions.  Besides,  there  were 
several  farming  houses  conveniently  located  on  the  mission 
land.  Of  these  buildings  there  are  now  only  two  rooms, 
making  a  body  with  the  church,  and  four  extending  south 
and  facing  on  the  church  plaza. 

x4.ll  these  rooms  were  repaired  by  the  Government  in  1873, 
with  the  consent  and  under  the  supervision  of  the  Bishop, 
and  used  as  a  schoolhouse  until  1876. 

The  little  butte  adjoining  the  church  shows,  on  its  top, 
the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano. 

Here  ends  what  we  have  to  say  about  the  Mission  of  San 
Xavier  del  Bac  and  its  church.  That  our  observations  on  the 
subject  are  incomplete,  we  admit;  but  we  trust  our  intention 
will  be  rightly  interpreted.  We  had  nothing  in  view  but  to 
give  as  general  information  the  few  facts  we  have  been  able 
to  find  mentioned  in  the  old  records,  and  to  contribute  to 
the  completion  of  St.  Mary's  Hospital  with  the  little  money 
we  might  realize  by  the  sale  of  this  notice. 


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